Objectives: The students will...
1. Define key terms relating to political parties and describe their function in
American politics.
2. Outline the electoral process for major national offices such as the
presidency and Congress.
3. Relate the place of political parties and election to the principles of
American democracy.

Description: Students will brainstorm what they think they know about
political parties. They will then take a diagnostic quiz on their understanding
of the two different parties. They will proceed to research the positions of the
two major parties on a list of issues. After viewing and recording answers on a
PowerPoint presentation on American political parties, students will examine the
Electoral College and its role in modern elections.

Motivation: Which party is which?

A) Ask students to brainstorm all of the things they already know about political
parties, especially the Democrats and Republicans.

B) Place their suggestions on the board. Have them identify which items are
characteristics of Democrats and Republicans or of political parties in general.

C) Have students answer the following questions on their own paper by deciding
if the idea related to the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, or to a third
party. Offer extra credit (bonus points) to students who write down which third
party is being described. Review orally when complete.

1. They are willing to raise taxes so that the government can provide needed
services such as education and defense. (Democratic)

2. This party supports the expansion of business without government
assistance or interference. (Republican)

3. This party calls for the reduction of big government and cutting the
budgets of those agencies that have grown too powerful. (Republican)

4. This party controlled the presidency from the time of the Civil War until
after the Stock Market crash, which signaled the start of the Great Depression.
(Republican)

5. This party expanded the role of the federal government in the lives of
ordinary people and in the economy when programs were created to fight
unemployment and bad business practices during the 1930s. (Democratic)

6. This party's presidents were associated with every major military conflict
of the 20th century. (Democratic)

7. This party called for respect for the environment, restrictions on big
business and its ability to pollute, and a restructuring of the economy to
preserve natural resources. (Third Party /
Green Party)

8. Theodore Roosevelt formed this party to enter the 1912 presidential race
since the nomination went to President Howard Taft. It was based on controlling
the trusts and monopolies that had grown up as a result of the Industrial
Revolution. (Third Party / Progressive Party)

9. This party supports restrictions on large insurance companies and health
management organizations so that the poor and middle class Americans receive
adequate health care. (Democratic)

10. This party offered an alternate choice during the 1992 election when Ross
Perot mounted a campaign against Bill Clinton and George Bush that gained 20
million popular votes but no electoral votes. (Third Party / Reform Party)

Divide the class into teams of four students. Assign each team one of the
following issues and allow them time in the library or on the Internet to
determine the viewpoint of each political party on that issue.

Election and Campaign Reform

Education Reform

Defense Spending

Controlling Health Care Costs/Prescription Drugs

The Death Penalty

Proving Energy for America

Protecting America's and Global Environment

Raise or Cut Taxes?

Social Security: How to protect it in the 21st Century.

Once students have completed their research, have them present to the class
their findings.

A person's views on the issues help determine where they fall on the
political spectrum.

The labels used on the spectrum are not pure categories, but
they make up a continuum, or value line, and citizens and politicians fall
somewhere on that line depending on what they believe.

There are two major
factors that shape political views. The first is how much change a person is
willing to have within their society and government. The second deals with how
much government involvement in the economy a person calls for. Others also bring
in the question of how much freedom from government authority a leader is
willing to give the people.

These factors place a person somewhere on a grid,
which can be used to measure where a person stands in relation to each other and
the issues.

To see where you stand, you would have to figure out where you stand on a number
of social, economic, and political issues. First you need definitions of the
terms radical, liberal, conservative, and reactionary. Some authors include the
terms authoritarian and libertarian.

A. Radical: Seen as being on the far left of the political spectrum, radicals
call for wide-sweeping rapid change in the basic structure of the political,
social, or economic system. They may be willing to resort to extreme methods to
bring about change, including the use of violence and revolution.
B. Liberal: Liberals believe that the government should be actively involved in
the promotion of social welfare of a nation's citizens. Liberals usually call
for peaceful, gradual change within the existing political system. They reject
violent revolution as a way of changing the way things are, often called the
status quo.
C. Moderate: Moderates may share viewpoints with both liberals and
conservatives. They are seen as tolerant of other people's views, and they do
not hold extreme views of their own. They advocate a "go-slow" or
"wait-and-see" approach to social or political change.
D. Conservative: People who hold conservative ideals favor keeping things the
way they are or maintaining the status quo if it is what they desire.
Conservatives are usually hesitant or cautious about adopting new policies,
especially if they involve government activism in some way. They feel that the
less government there is, the better. They agree with Jefferson's view that
"the best government governs least."
E. Reactionary: Sitting on the far right of the ideological spectrum,
reactionaries want to go back to the way things were-the "good ol'
days." Often reactionaries are willing to use extreme methods, such as
repressive use of government power, to achieve their goals.

Political parties are loosely formed around these broad political ideologies, or
bodies of ideas. Of the two major political parties, for example, Republicans
are generally seen as conservative because they advocate a reduction in
government. Democrats are generally seen as liberal because they support
government regulation of the economy.

Within parties, there are people who hold
a variety of opinions on social and economic issues that fall along the spectrum
of political ideologies, such as moderate Democrats, liberal Democrats,
conservative Republicans, and moderate Republicans.

Take a look at this chart:

Take your class to the Computer lab or project the World Wide Web by way of
LCD projector.
Have students visit or display "The Political Compass" at http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Direct students to investigate the following ideas as they move around the
Political Compass:

· In the website, take a look at the political spectrum that shows US
presidential candidates and international figures.
· Take the quiz. Compare your own views with those of American political
candidates and international figures. Where would you place yourself on the
political compass
· Think about American political figures in the news today. Where might they
fall on the political compass?
· For each issue mentioned, think to yourself if you agree with the Republican
party's view or with the Democratic Party view, or somewhere in between.

Once you have a good idea of what each term means in respect to the issues,
look at any library materials that identify American political figures such as
books on politics, encyclopedias, or the newspaper. Create your own political
compass and place the names of several figures on the compass. When you think
you have the idea, find our own place on the compass.

These videos discuss the history of each party and the direction of their
platforms through the three decades of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The election
strategies of the two major parties are also outlined as the winners and losers
of presidential elections through these years are portrayed.

Distribute the
worksheet that corresponds to the video you are showing.

You can stop the video to guide students
as they fill in the major issues facing each election. As historical and
political figures are mentioned, have students place them on the line of the
political spectrum. The winners of each election are listed in bold, red print.
The losers of the election are listed in normal type. You can also make a
transparency of the teacher's version and have students copy the information as
the video progresses.

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